Today we can hardly conceive of ourselves without an unconscious. Yet between 1700 and1900, this notion developed as a genuinely original thought. The "unconscious" burst the shell of conventional language, coined as it had been to embody the fleeting ideas and the shifting conceptions of several generations until, finally, it became fixed and defined in specialized terms within the realm of medical psychology and Freudian psychoanalysis.

The vocabulary concerning the soul and the mind increased enormously in the course of the nineteenth century. The enrichments of literary and intellectual language led to an altered understanding of the meanings that underlie time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords. At the same time, once coined, powerful new ideas attracted to themselves a whole host of seemingly unrelated issues, practices, and experiences, creating a peculiar network of preoccupations that as a group had not existed before. The drawn-out attempt to approach and define the unconscious brought together the spiritualist and the psychical researcher of borderline phenomena (such as apparitions, spectral illusions, haunted houses, mediums, trance, automatic writing); the psychiatrist or alienist probing the nature of mental disease, of abnormal ideation, hallucination, delirium, melancholia, mania; the surgeon performing operations with the aid of hypnotism; the magnetizer claiming to correct the disequilibrium in the universal flow of magnetic fluids but who soon came to be regarded as a clever manipulator of the imagination; the physiologist and the physician who puzzled oversleep, dreams, sleepwalking, anesthesia, the influence of the mind on the body in health and disease; the neurologist concerned with the functions of the brain and the physiological basis of mental life; the philosopher interested in the will, the emotions, consciousness, knowledge, imagination and the creative genius; and, last but not least, the psychologist.

Significantly, most if not all of these practices (for example, hypnotism in surgery or psychological magnetism) originated in the waning years of the eighteenth century and during the early decades of the nineteenth century, as did some of the disciplines (such as psychology and psychical research). The majority of topics too were either new or assumed hitherto unknown colors. Thus, before 1790, few if any spoke, in medical terms, of the affinity between creative genius and the hallucinations of the insane . . .

Striving vaguely and independently to give expression to a latent conception, various lines of thought can be brought together by some novel term. The new concept then serves as a kind of resting place or stocktaking in the development of ideas, giving satisfaction and a stimulus for further discussion or speculation. Thus, the massive introduction of the term unconscious by Hartmann in 1869 appeared to focalize many stray thoughts, affording a temporary feeling that a crucial step had been taken forward, a comprehensive knowledge gained, a knowledge that required only further elaboration, explication, and unfolding in order to bring in a bounty of higher understanding. Ultimately, Hartmann's attempt at defining the unconscious proved fruitless because he extended its reach into every realm of organic and inorganic, spiritual, intellectual, and instinctive existence, severely diluting the precision and compromising the impact of the concept.

Question: 1

All of the following statements may be considered valid inferences from the passage, EXCEPT:

1. New conceptions in the nineteenth century could provide new knowledge because of the establishment of fields such as anaesthesiology.
2. Unrelated practices began to be treated as related to each other, as knowledge of the mind grew in the nineteenth century.
3. Without the linguistic developments of the nineteenth century, the growth of understanding of the soul and the mind may not have happened.
4. Eighteenth century thinkers were the first to perceive a connection between creative genius and insanity.

Which one of the following sets of words is closest to mapping the main arguments of the passage?

1. Language; Unconscious; Psychoanalysis.

2. Unconscious; Latent conception; Dreams.

3. Literary language; Unconscious; Insanity.

4. Imagination; Magnetism; Psychiatry.

Which one of the following statements best describes what the passage is about?

1. The collating of diverse ideas under the single term: unconscious.

2. The identification of the unconscious as an object of psychical research.

3. The discovery of the unconscious as a part of the human mind.

4. The growing vocabulary of the soul and the mind, as diverse processes.

"The enrichments of literary and intellectual language led to an altered understanding of the meanings that underlie time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords." Which one of the following interpretations of this sentence would be closest in meaning to the original?

1. Time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords were enriched by literary and intellectual language.

2. The meanings of time-honored expressions were changed by innovations in literary and intellectual language.

3. All of the options listed here.

4. Literary and intellectual language was altered by time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords.

The fossil remains of the first flying vertebrates, the pterosaurs, have intrigued paleontologists for more than two centuries. How such large creatures, which weighed in some cases as much as a piloted hang-glider and had wingspans from 8 to 12 meters, solved the problems of powered flight, and exactly what these creatures were—reptiles or birds—are among the questions scientists have puzzled over. Perhaps the least controversial assertion about the pterosaurs is that they were reptiles. Their skulls, pelvises, and hind feet are reptilian. The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds. In pterosaurs a greatly elongated fourth finger of each forelimb supported a wing-like membrane. The other fingers were short and reptilian, with sharp claws. In birds the second finger is the principal strut of the wing, which consists primarily of feathers. If the pterosaurs walked on all fours, the three short fingers may have been employed for grasping. When a pterosaur walked or remained stationary, the fourth finger, and with it the wing, could only turn upward in an extended inverted V-shape along each side of the animal’s body. 

The pterosaurs resembled both birds and bats in their overall structure and proportions. This is not surprising because the design of any flying vertebrate is subject to aerodynamic constraints. Both the pterosaurs and the birds have hollow bones, a feature that represents a savings in weight. In the birds, however, these bones are reinforced more massively by internal struts.

Although scales typically cover reptiles, the pterosaurs probably had hairy coats. T. H. Huxley reasoned that flying vertebrates must have been warm-blooded because flying implies a high rate of metabolism, which in turn implies a high internal temperature. Huxley speculated that a coat of hair would insulate against loss of body heat and might streamline the body to reduce drag in flight. The recent discovery of a pterosaur specimen covered in long, dense, and relatively thick hair like fossil material was the first clear evidence that his reasoning was correct.

Efforts to explain how the pterosaurs became airborne have led to suggestions that they
launched themselves by jumping from cliffs, by dropping from trees, or even by rising into light winds from the crests of waves. Each hypothesis has its difficulties. The first wrongly assumes that the pterosaurs’ hind feet resembled a bat’s and could serve as hooks by which the animal could hang in preparation for flight. The second hypothesis seems unlikely because large pterosaurs could not have landed in trees without damaging their wings. The third calls for high waves to channel updrafts. The wind that made such waves however, might have been too strong for the pterosaurs to control their flight once airborne. 

1. It can be inferred from the passage that scientists now generally agree that the
(A) enormous wingspan of the pterosaurs enabled them to fly great distances
(B) structure of the skeleton of the pterosaurs suggests a close evolutionary relationship to bats
(C) fossil remains of the pterosaurs reveal how they solved the problem of powered flight
(D) pterosaurs were reptiles
(E) pterosaurs walked on all fours

2. The author views the idea that the pterosaurs became airborne by rising into light winds created by waves as
(A) revolutionary
(B) unlikely
(C) unassailable
(D) probable
(E) outdated

3. According to the passage, the skeleton of a pterosaur can be distinguished from that of a bird by the
(A) size of its wingspan
(B) presence of hollow spaces in its bones
(C) anatomic origin of its wing strut
(D) presence of hook like projections on its hind feet
(E) location of the shoulder joint joining the wing to its body

4. The ideas attributed to T. H. Huxley in the passage suggest that he would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
(A) An animal’s brain size has little bearing on its ability to master complex behaviors.
(B) An animal’s appearance is often influenced by environmental requirements and physical capabilities.
(C) Animals within a given family group are unlikely to change their appearance dramatically over a period of time.
(D) The origin of flight in vertebrates was an accidental development rather than the outcome of specialization or adaptation.
(E) The pterosaurs should be classified as birds, not reptiles.

5. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is characteristic of the pterosaurs?
(A) They were unable to fold their wings when not in use.
(B) They hung upside down from branches as bats do before flight.
(C) They flew in order to capture prey.
(D) They were an early stage in the evolution of the birds.
(E) They lived primarily in a forest-like habitat.

6. Which of the following best describes the organization of the last paragraph of the passage?
(A) New evidence is introduced to support a traditional point of view.
(B) Three explanations for a phenomenon are presented, and each is disputed by means of specific information.
(C) Three hypotheses are outlined, and evidence supporting each is given.
(D) Recent discoveries are described, and their implications for future study are projected.
(E) A summary of the material in the preceding paragraphs is presented, and conclusions are drawn.

7. It can be inferred from the passage that some scientists believe that pterosaurs
(A) lived near large bodies of water
(B) had sharp teeth for tearing food
(C) were attacked and eaten by larger reptiles
(D) had longer tails than many birds
(E) consumed twice their weight daily to maintain their body temperature

Woodrow Wilson was referring to the liberal idea of the economic market when he said that the free enterprise system is the most efficient economic system. Maximum freedom means maximum productiveness; our “openness” is to be the measure of our stability. Fascination with this ideal has made Americans defy the “Old World” categories of settled possessiveness versus unsettling deprivation, the cupidity of retention versus the cupidity of seizure, a “status quo” defended or attacked. The United States, it was believed, had no status quo ante. Our only “station” was the turning of a stationary wheel, spinning faster and faster. We did not base our system on property but opportunity—which meant we based it not on stability but on mobility. The more things changed, that is, the more rapidly the wheel turned, the steadier we would be. The conventional picture of class politics is composed of the Haves, who want a stability to keep what they have, and the Have-Nots, who want a touch of instability and change in which to scramble for the things they have not. But Americans imagined a condition in which speculators, self-makers, runners are always using the new opportunities given by our land. These economic leaders (front-runners) would thus be mainly agents of change. The nonstarters were considered the ones who wanted stability, a strong referee to give them some position in the race, a regulative hand to calm manic speculation; an authority that can call things to a halt, begin things again from compensatorily staggered “starting lines.” “Reform” in America has been sterile because it can imagine no change except through the extension of this metaphor of a race, wider inclusion of competitors, “a piece of the action,” as it were, for the disenfranchised. There is no attempt to call off the race. Since our only stability
is change, America seems not to honor the quiet work that achieves social interdependence and stability. There is, in our legends, no heroism of the office clerk, no stable industrial work force of the people who actually make the system work. There is no pride in being an employee (Wilson asked for a return to the time when everyone was an employer). There has been no boasting about our social workers—they are merely signs of the system’s failure, of opportunity denied or not taken, of things to be eliminated. We have no pride in our growing interdependence, in the fact that our system can serve others, that we are able to help those in need; empty boasts from the past make us ashamed of our present achievements, make us try to forget or deny them, move away from them. There is no honor but in the Wonderland race we must all run, all trying to win, none winning in the end (for there is no end).

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) criticize the inflexibility of American economic mythology
(B) contrast “Old World” and “New World” economic ideologies
(C) challenge the integrity of traditional political leaders
(D) champion those Americans whom the author deems to be neglected
(E) suggest a substitute for the traditional metaphor of a race

2. According to the passage, “Old World” values were based on

(A) ability
(B) property
(C) family connections
(D) guild hierarchies
(E) education

3. In the context of the author’s discussion of regulating change, which of the following could be most probably regarded as a “strong referee” (line 30) in the United States?

(A) A school principal
(B) A political theorist
(C) A federal court judge
(D) A social worker
(E) A government inspector

4. The author sets off the word “Reform” (line 35) with quotation marks in order to

(A) emphasize its departure from the concept of settled possessiveness
(B) show his support for a systematic program of change
(C) underscore the flexibility and even amorphousness of United States society
(D) indicate that the term was one of Wilson’s favorites
(E) assert that reform in the United States has not been fundamental

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author most probably thinks that
giving the disenfranchised “a piece of the action” (line 38) is

(A) a compassionate, if misdirected, legislative measure
(B) an example of Americans’ resistance to profound social change
(C) an innovative program for genuine social reform
(D) a monument to the efforts of industrial reformers
(E) a surprisingly “Old World” remedy for social ills

6. Which of the following metaphors could the author most appropriately use to
summarize his own assessment of the American economic system (lines 35-60)?

(A) A windmill
(B) A waterfall
(C) A treadmill
(D) A gyroscope
(E) A bellows

7. It can be inferred from the passage that Woodrow Wilson’s ideas about the
economic market

(A) encouraged those who “make the system work” (lines 45-46)
(B) perpetuated traditional legends about America
(C) revealed the prejudices of a man born wealthy
(D) foreshadowed the stock market crash of 1929
(E) began a tradition of presidential proclamations on economics

8. The passage contains information that would answer which of the following
questions?

I. What techniques have industrialists used to manipulate a free market?
II. In what ways are “New World” and “Old World” economic policies similar?
III. Has economic policy in the United States tended to reward independent
action?
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II only
(E) II and III only

9. Which of the following best expresses the author’s main point?

(A) Americans’ pride in their jobs continues to give them stamina today.
(B) The absence of a status quo ante has undermined United States economic
structure.
(C) The free enterprise system has been only a useless concept in the United
States.
(D) The myth of the American free enterprise system is seriously flawed.
(E) Fascination with the ideal of “openness” has made Americans a progressive
people.

Keeping time accurately comes with a price. The maximum accuracy of a clock is directly related to how much disorder, or entropy, it creates every time it ticks. Natalia Ares at the University of Oxford and her colleagues made this discovery using a tiny clock with an accuracy that can be controlled. The clock consists of a 50-nanometre-thick membrane of silicon nitride, vibrated by an electric current. Each time the membrane moved up and down once and then returned to its original position, the researchers counted a tick, and the regularity of the spacing between the ticks represented the accuracy of the clock. The researchers found that as they increased the clock's accuracy, the heat produced in the system grew, increasing the entropy of its surroundings by jostling nearby particles . . . "If a clock is more accurate, you are paying for it somehow," says Ares. In this case, you pay for it by pouring more ordered energy into the clock, which is then converted into entropy. "By measuring time, we are increasing the entropy of the universe," says Ares. The more entropy there is in the universe, the closer it may be to its eventual demise. "Maybe we should stop measuring time," says Ares. The scale of the additional entropy is so small, though, that there is no need to worry about its effects, she says. 

The increase in entropy in timekeeping may be related to the "arrow of time", says Marcus Huber at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, who was part of the research team. It has been suggested that the reason that time only flows forward, not in reverse, is that the total amount of entropy in the universe is constantly increasing, creating disorder that cannot be put in order again.

The relationship that the researchers found is a limit on the accuracy of a clock, so it doesn't mean that a clock that creates the most possible entropy would be maximally accurate - hence a large, inefficient grandfather clock isn't more precise than an atomic clock. "It's a bit like fuel use in a car. Just because I'm using more fuel doesn't mean that I'm going faster or further," says Huber.

When the researchers compared their results with theoretical models developed for clocks that rely on quantum effects, they were surprised to find that the relationship between accuracy and entropy seemed to be the same for both. . . . We can't be sure yet that these results are actually universal, though, because there are many types of clocks for which the relationship between accuracy and entropy haven't been tested. "It's still unclear how this principle plays out in real devices such as atomic clocks, which push the ultimate quantum limits of accuracy," says Mark Mitchison at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. Understanding this relationship could be helpful for designing clocks in the future, particularly those used in quantum computers and other devices where both accuracy and temperature are crucial, says Ares. This finding could also help us understand more generally how the quantum world and the classical world are similar and different in terms of thermodynamics and the passage of time.

Question: 1

Which one of the following sets of words and phrases serves best as keywords of the passage?

1. Electric current; Heat; Quantum effects.

2. Silicon Nitride; Energy; Grandfather Clock.

3. Measuring Time; Accuracy; Entropy.

4. Membrane; Arrow of time; Entropy.

The author makes all of the following arguments in the passage, EXCEPT that:

1. The relationship between accuracy and entropy may not apply to all clocks.

2. Researchers found that the heat produced in a system is the price paid for increased accuracy of measurement.

3. There is no difference in accuracy between an inefficient grandfather clock and an atomic clock.

4. In designing clocks for quantum computers, both precision and heat have to be taken into account.

None of the following statements can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT that:

1. the arrow of time has not yet been tested for atomic clocks.

2. quantum computers are likely to produce more heat and, hence, more entropy, because of the emphasis on their clocks' accuracy.

3. grandfather clocks are likely to produce less heat and, hence, less entropy, because they are not as accurate.

4. a clock with a 50-nanometre-thick membrane of silicon nitride has been made to vibrate, producing electric currents.

"It's a bit like fuel use in a car. Just because I'm using more fuel doesn't mean that I'm going faster or further ..." What is the purpose of this example?

1. If you go faster in a car, you will tend to consume more fuel, but the converse is not necessarily true. In the same way, increased entropy does not necessarily mean greater accuracy of a clock.

2. The further you go in a car, the more fuel you use. In the same way, the faster you go in a car, the less time you use.

3. If you measure the speed of a car with a grandfather clock, the result will be different than if you measured it with an atomic clock.

4. The further and faster you go in a car, the greater the amount of fuel you will use, the greater the amount of heat produced and, hence, the greater the entropy.

Back in the early 2000s, an awesome thing happened in the New X-Men comics. Our mutant heroes had been battling giant robots called Sentinels for years, but suddenly these mechanical overlords spawned a new threat: Nano-Sentinels! Not content to rule Earth with their metal fists, these tiny robots invaded our bodies at the microscopic level. Infected humans were slowly converted into machines, cell by cell.

Now, a new wave of extremely odd robots is making at least part of the Nano-Sentinels story come true. Using exotic fabrication materials like squishy hydrogels and elastic polymers, researchers are making autonomous devices that are often tiny and that could turn out to be more powerful than an army of Terminators. Some are 1-centimetre blobs that can skate overwater. Others are flat sheets that can roll themselves into tubes, or matchstick-sized plastic coils that act as powerful muscles. No, they won't be invading our bodies and turning us into Sentinels - which I personally find a little disappointing - but some of them could one day swim through our bloodstream to heal us. They could also clean up pollutants in water or fold themselves into different kinds of vehicles for us to drive. . . .

Unlike a traditional robot, which is made of mechanical parts, these new kinds of robots are made from molecular parts. The principle is the same: both are devices that can move around and do things independently. But a robot made from smart materials might be nothing more than a pink drop of hydrogel. Instead of gears and wires, it's assembled from two kinds of molecules - some that love water and some that avoid it - which interact to allow the bot to skate on top of a pond.

Sometimes these materials are used to enhance more conventional robots. One team of researchers, for example, has developed a different kind of hydrogel that becomes sticky when exposed to a low-voltage zap of electricity and then stops being sticky when the electricity is switched off. This putty-like gel can be pasted right onto the feet or wheels of a robot. When the robot wants to climb a sheer wall or scoot across the ceiling, it can activate its sticky feet with a few volts. Once it is back on a flat surface again, the robot turns off the adhesive like a light switch.

Robots that are wholly or partly made of gloop aren't the future that I was promised in science fiction. But it's definitely the future I want. I'm especially keen on the nanometre-scale "soft robots" that could one day swim through our bodies. Metin Sitti, a director at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany, worked with colleagues to prototype these tiny, synthetic beasts using various stretchy materials, such as simple rubber, and seeding them with magnetic microparticles. They are assembled into a finished shape by applying magnetic fields. The results look like flowers or geometric shapes made from Tinkertoy ball and stick modelling kits. They're guided through tubes of fluid using magnets, and can even stop and cling to the sides of a tube.

Question: 1

Which one of the following scenarios, if false, could be seen as supporting the passage?

1. Some hydrogels turn sticky when an electric current is passed through them; this potentially has very useful applications.

2. Robots made from smart materials are likely to become part of our everyday lives in the future.

3. Nano-Sentinel-like robots are likely to be used to inject people to convert them into robots, cell by cell.

4. There are two kinds of molecules used to make some nano-robots: one that reacts positively to water and the other negatively.

Which one of the following statements, if true, would be the most direct extension of the arguments in the passage?

1. In the future, robots will be used to search and destroy diseases even in the deepest recesses of the human body.

2. X-Men may be created by injecting people with mutant nano-gels that will respond to the brain's magnetic field.

3. Sentinel robots will be used in warfare to cause large-scale destructive mutations amongst civilians.

4. 1-centimetre blobs of gel that have nano-robots in them will be used to send messages.

Which one of the following statements best captures the sense of the first paragraph?

1. The X-Men were mutant heroes who now had to battle tiny robots called Nano-Sentinels.

2. People who were infected by Nano-Sentinel robots became mutants who were called X-Men.

3. Tiny sentinels called X-Men infected people, turning them into mutant robot overlords.

4. None of the options listed here.

Which one of the following statements best summarises the central point of the passage?

1. Robots will use nano-robots on their feet and wheels to climb walls or move on ceilings.

2. Once the stuff of science fiction, nano-robots now feature in cutting-edge scientific research.

3. Nano-robots made from molecules that react to water have become increasingly useful.

4. The field of robotics is likely to be feature more and more in comics like the New X-Men

Direction for Reading Comprehension: The passages given here are followed by some questions that have four answer choices; read the passage carefully and pick the option whose answer best aligns with the passage.

It has been said that knowledge, or the problem of knowledge, is the scandal of philosophy. The scandal is philosophy's apparent inability to show how, when and why we can be sure that we know something or, indeed, that we know anything. Philosopher Michael Williams writes: 'Is it possible to obtain knowledge at all? This problem is pressing because there are powerful arguments, some very ancient, for the conclusion that it is not . . . Skepticism is the skeleton in Western rationalism's closet'. While it is not clear that the scandal matters to anyone but philosophers, philosophers point out that it should matter to everyone, at least given a certain conception of knowledge. For, they explain, unless we can ground our claims to knowledge as such, which is to say, distinguish it from mere opinion, superstition, fantasy, wishful thinking, ideology, illusion or delusion, then the actions we take on the basis of presumed knowledge - boarding an airplane, swallowing a pill, finding someone guilty of a crime - will be irrational and unjustifiable.

That is all quite serious-sounding but so also are the rattlings of the skeleton: that is, the sceptic's contention that we cannot be sure that we know anything - at least not if we think of knowledge as something like having a correct mental representation of reality, and not if we think of reality as something like things-as-they-are-in-themselves, independent of our perceptions, ideas or descriptions. For, the sceptic will note, since reality, under that conception of it, is outside our ken (we cannot catch a glimpse of things-in-themselves around the corner of our own eyes; we cannot form an idea of reality that floats above the processes of our conceiving it), we have no way to compare our mental representations with things-as-they-are-in-themselves and therefore no way to determine whether they are correct or incorrect. Thus the sceptic may repeat (rattling loudly), you cannot be sure you 'know' something or anything at all - at least not, he may add (rattling softly before disappearing), if that is the way you conceive 'knowledge'.

There are a number of ways to handle this situation. The most common is to ignore it. Most people outside the academy - and, indeed, most of us inside it - are unaware of or unperturbed by the philosophical scandal of knowledge and go about our lives without too many epistemic anxieties. We hold our beliefs and presumptive knowledges more or less confidently, usually depending on how we acquired them (I saw it with my own eyes; I heard it on Fox News; a guy at the office told me) and how broadly and strenuously they seem to be shared or endorsed by various relevant people: experts and authorities, friends and family members, colleagues and associates. And we examine our convictions more or less closely, explain them more or less extensively, and defend them more or less vigorously, usually depending on what seems to be at stake for ourselves and/or other people and what resources are available for reassuring ourselves or making our beliefs credible to others (look, it's right here on the page; add up the figures yourself; I happen to be a heart specialist).

Question: 1

". . . we cannot catch a glimpse of things-in-themselves around the corner of our own eyes; we cannot form an idea of reality that floats above the processes of our conceiving it . . ." Which one of the following statements best reflects the argument being made in this sentence?

1. If the reality of things is independent of our perception, logically we cannot perceive that reality.

2. If the reality of things is independent of our eyesight, logically we cannot perceive our perception.

3. Our knowledge of reality floats above our subjective perception of it.

4. Our knowledge of reality cannot be merged with our process of conceiving it.

The author of the passage is most likely to support which one of the following statements?

1. The confidence with which we maintain something to be true is usually independent of the source of the alleged truth.

2. For the sceptic, if we think of reality as independent of our perceptions, ideas or descriptions, we should aim to know that reality independently too.

3. The scandal of philosophy is that we might not know anything at all about reality if we think of reality as independent of our perceptions, ideas or descriptions.

4. The actions taken on the basis of presumed knowledge are rational and justifiable if we are confident that that knowledge is widely held.

According to the last paragraph of the passage, "We hold our beliefs and presumptive knowledges more or less confidently, usually depending on" something. Which one of the following most broadly captures what we depend on?

1. Remaining outside the academy; ignoring epistemic anxieties.

2. How much of a stake we have in them; what resources there are to support them.

3. How we come to hold them; how widely they are held in our social circles.

4. All of the options listed here.

The author discusses all of the following arguments in the passage, EXCEPT:

1. sceptics believe that we can never fully know anything, if by 'knowing' we mean knowledge of a reality that is independent of the knower.

2. the best way to deal with scepticism about the veracity of knowledge is to ignore it.

3. philosophers maintain that the scandal of philosophy should be of concern to everyone.

4. if we cannot distinguish knowledge from opinion or delusion, we will not be able to justify our actions.

It's easy to forget that most of the world's languages are still transmitted orally with no widely established written form. While speech communities are increasingly involved in projects to protect their languages - in print, on air and online - orality is fragile and contributes to linguistic vulnerability. But indigenous languages are about much more than unusual words and intriguing grammar: They function as vehicles for the transmission of cultural traditions, environmental understandings and knowledge about medicinal plants, all at risk when elders die and livelihoods are disrupted.

Both push and pull factors lead to the decline of languages. Through war, famine and natural disasters, whole communities can be destroyed, taking their language with them to the grave, such as the indigenous populations of Tasmania who were wiped out by colonists. More commonly, speakers live on but abandon their language in favor of another vernacular, a widespread process that linguists refer to as "language shift" from which few languages are immune. Such trading up and out of a speech form occurs for complex political, cultural and economic reasons - sometimes voluntary for economic and educational reasons, although often amplified by state coercion or neglect. Welsh, long stigmatized and disparaged by the British state, has rebounded with vigor.

Many speakers of endangered, poorly documented languages have embraced new digital media with excitement. Speakers of previously exclusively oral tongues are turning to the web as a virtual space for languages to live on. Internet technology offers powerful ways for oral traditions and cultural practices to survive, even thrive, among increasingly mobile communities. I have watched as videos of traditional wedding ceremonies and songs are recorded on smartphones in London by Nepali migrants, then uploaded to YouTube and watched an hour later by relatives in remote Himalayan villages . . .Globalization is regularly, and often uncritically, pilloried as a major threat to linguistic diversity. But in fact, globalization is as much process as it is ideology, certainly when it comes to language. The real forces behind cultural homogenization are unbending beliefs, exchanged through a globalized delivery system, reinforced by the historical monolingualism prevalent in much of the West.

Monolingualism - the condition of being able to speak only one language - is regularly accompanied by a deep-seated conviction in the value of that language over all others. Across the largest economies that make up the G8, being monolingual is still often the norm, with multilingualism appearing unusual and even somewhat exotic. The monolingual mindset stands in sharp contrast to the lived reality of most the world, which throughout its history has been more multilingual than unilingual. Monolingualism, then, not globalization, should be our primary concern.

Multilingualism can help us live in a more connected and more interdependent world. By widening access to technology, globalization can support indigenous and scholarly communities engaged in documenting and protecting our shared linguistic heritage. For the last 5,000 years, the rise and fall of languages was intimately tied to the plow, sword and book. In our digital age, the keyboard, screen and web will play a decisive role in shaping the future linguistic diversity of our species.

Question: 1

From the passage, we can infer that the author is in favour of:

1. "language shifts" across languages.
2. cultural homogenization.
3. greater multilingualism.
4. an expanded state role in the preservation of languages.

The author mentions the Welsh language to show that:

1. efforts to integrate Welsh speakers in the English-speaking fold have been fruitless.
2. languages can revive even after their speakers have gone through a "language shift".
3. vulnerable languages can rebound with state effort.
4. while often pilloried, globalisation can, in fact, support linguistic revival.

The author lists all of the following as reasons for the decline or disappearance of a language EXCEPT:

1. governments promoting certain languages over others.
2. a catastrophic event that entirely eliminates a people and their culture.
3. people shifting away from their own language to study or work in another language.
4. the focus on only a few languages as a result of widespread internet use.

We can infer all of the following about indigenous languages from the passage EXCEPT that:

1. they are repositories of traditional knowledge about the environment and culture.
2. people are increasingly working on documenting these languages.
3. they are in danger of being wiped out as most can only be transmitted orally.
4. their vocabulary and grammatical constructs have been challenging to document.

It's easy to forget that most of the world's languages are still transmitted orally with no widely established written form. While speech communities are increasingly involved in projects to protect their languages - in print, on air and online - orality is fragile and contributes to linguistic vulnerability. But indigenous languages are about much more than unusual words and intriguing grammar: They function as vehicles for the transmission of cultural traditions, environmental understandings and knowledge about medicinal plants, all at risk when elders die and livelihoods are disrupted.

Both push and pull factors lead to the decline of languages. Through war, famine and natural disasters, whole communities can be destroyed, taking their language with them to the grave, such as the indigenous populations of Tasmania who were wiped out by colonists. More commonly, speakers live on but abandon their language in favor of another vernacular, a widespread process that linguists refer to as "language shift" from which few languages are immune. Such trading up and out of a speech form occurs for complex political, cultural and economic reasons - sometimes voluntary for economic and educational reasons, although often amplified by state coercion or neglect. Welsh, long stigmatized and disparaged by the British state, has rebounded with vigor.

Many speakers of endangered, poorly documented languages have embraced new digital media with excitement. Speakers of previously exclusively oral tongues are turning to the web as a virtual space for languages to live on. Internet technology offers powerful ways for oral traditions and cultural practices to survive, even thrive, among increasingly mobile communities. I have watched as videos of traditional wedding ceremonies and songs are recorded on smartphones in London by Nepali migrants, then uploaded to YouTube and watched an hour later by relatives in remote Himalayan villages . . .Globalization is regularly, and often uncritically, pilloried as a major threat to linguistic diversity. But in fact, globalization is as much process as it is ideology, certainly when it comes to language. The real forces behind cultural homogenization are unbending beliefs, exchanged through a globalized delivery system, reinforced by the historical monolingualism prevalent in much of the West.

Monolingualism - the condition of being able to speak only one language - is regularly accompanied by a deep-seated conviction in the value of that language over all others. Across the largest economies that make up the G8, being monolingual is still often the norm, with multilingualism appearing unusual and even somewhat exotic. The monolingual mindset stands in sharp contrast to the lived reality of most the world, which throughout its history has been more multilingual than unilingual. Monolingualism, then, not globalization, should be our primary concern.

Multilingualism can help us live in a more connected and more interdependent world. By widening access to technology, globalization can support indigenous and scholarly communities engaged in documenting and protecting our shared linguistic heritage. For the last 5,000 years, the rise and fall of languages was intimately tied to the plow, sword and book. In our digital age, the keyboard, screen and web will play a decisive role in shaping the future linguistic diversity of our species.

Question: 1

From the passage, we can infer that the author is in favour of:

1. "language shifts" across languages.

2. cultural homogenization.

3. greater multilingualism.

4. an expanded state role in the preservation of languages

Question: 2

The author mentions the Welsh language to show that:

1. efforts to integrate Welsh speakers in the English-speaking fold have been fruitless.

2. languages can revive even after their speakers have gone through a "language shift".

3. vulnerable languages can rebound with state effort.

4. while often pilloried, globalization can, in fact, support linguistic revival.

The author lists all of the following as reasons for the decline or disappearance of a language EXCEPT:

1. governments promoting certain languages over others.

2. a catastrophic event that entirely eliminates a people and their culture.

3. people shifting away from their own language to study or work in another language.

4. the focus on only a few languages as a result of widespread internet use.

We can infer all of the following about indigenous languages from the passage EXCEPT that:

1. they are repositories of traditional knowledge about the environment and culture.

2. people are increasingly working on documenting these languages.

3. they are in danger of being wiped out as most can only be transmitted orally.

4. their vocabulary and grammatical constructs have been challenging to document.

Many people believe that truth conveys power. . . . Hence sticking with the truth is the best strategy for gaining power. Unfortunately, this is just a comforting myth. In fact, truth and power have a far more complicated relationship, because in human society, power means two very different things.

On the one hand, power means having the ability to manipulate objective realities: to hunt animals, to construct bridges, to cure diseases, to build atom bombs. This kind of power is closely tied to truth. If you believe a false physical theory, you won't be able to build an atom bomb. On the other hand, power also means having the ability to manipulate human beliefs, thereby getting lots of people to cooperate effectively. Building atom bombs requires not just a good understanding of physics, but also the coordinated labor of millions of humans. Planet Earth was conquered by Homo sapiens rather than by chimpanzees or elephants, because we are the only mammals that can cooperate in very large numbers. And large-scale cooperation depends on believing common stories. But these stories need not be true. You can unite millions of people by making them believe in completely fictional stories about God, about race or about economics. The dual nature of power and truth results in the curious fact that we humans know many more truths than any other animal, but we also believe in much more nonsense. . . .

When it comes to uniting people around a common story, fiction actually enjoys three inherent advantages over the truth. First, whereas the truth is universal, fictions tend to be local. Consequently if we want to distinguish our tribe from foreigners, a fictional story will serve as a far better identity marker than a true story. . . . The second huge advantage of fiction over truth has to do with the handicap principle, which says that reliable signals must be costly to the signaler. Otherwise, they can easily be faked by cheaters. . . . If political loyalty is signaled by believing a true story, anyone can fake it. But believing ridiculous and outlandish stories exacts greater cost, and is therefore a better signal of loyalty. . . . Third, and most important, the truth is often painful and disturbing. Hence if you stick to unalloyed reality, few people will follow you. An American presidential candidate who tells the American public the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about American history has a 100 percent guarantee of losing the elections. . . . An uncompromising adherence to the truth is an admirable spiritual practice, but it is not a winning political strategy. . . .

Even if we need to pay some price for deactivating our rational faculties, the advantages of increased social cohesion are often so big that fictional stories routinely triumph over the truth in human history. Scholars have known this for thousands of years, which is why scholars often had to decide whether they served the truth or social harmony. Should they aim to unite people by making sure everyone believes in the same fiction, or should they let people know the truth even at the price of disunity?

Question: 1

The central theme of the passage is about the choice between:

1. truth and power.

2. leaders who unknowingly spread fictions and those who intentionally do so.

3. stories that unite people and those that distinguish groups from each other.

4. attaining social cohesion and propagating objective truth.

Regarding which one of the following quotes could we argue that the author over emphasises the importance of fiction?

1. "In fact, truth and power have a far more complicated relationship, because in human society, power means two very different things."

2. "Hence sticking with the truth is the best strategy for gaining power. Unfortunately, this is just a comforting myth."

3. "On the one hand, power means having the ability to manipulate objective realities: to hunt animals, to construct bridges, to cure diseases, to build atom bombs."

4. ". . . scholars often had to decide whether they served the truth or social harmony. Should they aim to unite people by making sure everyone believes in the same fiction, or should they let people know the truth . . ."

The author would support none of the following statements about political power EXCEPT that:

1. manipulating people's beliefs is politically advantageous, but a leader who propagates only myths is likely to lose power.

2. there are definite advantages to promoting fiction, but there needs to be some limit to a pervasive belief in myths.

3. while unalloyed truth is not recommended, leaders should stay as close as possible to it.

4. people cannot handle the unvarnished truth, so leaders retain power by deviating from it.

The author implies that, like scholars, successful leaders:

1. know how to balance truth and social unity.

2. use myths to attain the first type of power.

3. today know how to create social cohesion better than in the past.

4. need to leverage both types of power to remain in office.

We cannot travel outside our neighbourhood without passports. We must wear the same plainclothes. We must exchange our houses every ten years. We cannot avoid labour. We all go to bed at the same time . . . We have religious freedom, but we cannot deny that the soul dies with the body, since 'but for the fear of punishment, they would have nothing but contempt for the laws and customs of society'. . . . In More's time, for much of the population, given the plenty and security on offer, such restraints would not have seemed overly unreasonable. For modern readers, however, Utopia appears to rely upon relentless transparency, the repression of variety, and the curtailment of privacy. Utopia provides security: but at what price' In both its external and internal relations, indeed, it seems perilously dystopian.

Such a conclusion might be fortified by examining selectively the tradition which follows more on these points. This often portrays societies where. . .'it would be almost impossible for man to be depraved, or wicked'. . . . This is achieved both through institutions and mores, which underpin the common life. . .. The passions are regulated and inequalities of wealth and distinction are minimized. Needs, vanity, and emulation are restrained, often by prizing equality and holding riches in contempt. The desire for public power is curbed. Marriage and sexual intercourse are often controlled: in Tommaso Campanella's The City of the Sun (1623), the first great literary utopia after More's, relations are forbidden to men before the age of twenty-one and women before nineteen. Communal child-rearing is normal; for Campanella this commences at age two. Greater simplicity of life, 'living according to nature', is often a result: the desire for simplicity and purity are closely related. People become more alike in appearance, opinion, and outlook than they often have been. Unity, order, and homogeneity thus prevail at the cost of individuality and diversity. This model, as J. C. Davis demonstrates, dominated early modern utopianism. . . . And utopian homogeneity remains a familiar theme well into the twentieth century.

Given these considerations, it is not unreasonable to take as our starting point here the hypothesis that utopia and dystopia evidently share more in common than is often supposed. Indeed, they might be twins, the progeny of the same parents. Insofar as this proves to be the case, my linkage of both here will be uncomfortably close for some readers. Yet we should not mistake this argument for the assertion that all utopias are, or tend to produce, dystopias. Those who defend this proposition will find that their association here is not nearly close enough. For we have only to acknowledge the existence of thousands of successful intentional communities in which a cooperative ethos predominates and where harmony without coercion is the rule to set aside such an assertion. Here the individual's submersion in the group is consensual (though this concept is not unproblematic). It results not in enslavement but voluntary submission to group norms. Harmony is achieved without . . .harming others.

Question: 1

All of the following statements can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT that:

1. utopian and dystopian societies are twins, the progeny of the same parents.

2. utopian societies exist in a long tradition of literature dealing with imaginary people practicing imaginary customs, in imaginary worlds.

3. many conceptions of utopian societies emphasise the importance of social uniformity and cultural homogeneity.

4. it is possible to see utopias as dystopias, with a change in perspective, because one person's utopia could be seen as another's dystopia.

Following from the passage, which one of the following may be seen as a characteristic of a utopian society?

1. The regulation of homogeneity through promoting competitive heterogeneity.

2. A society where public power is earned through merit rather than through privilege.

3. Institutional surveillance of every individual to ensure his/her security and welfare.

4. A society without any laws to restrain one's individuality.

Which sequence of words below best captures the narrative of the passage?

1. Relentless transparency - Homogeneity - Utopia - Dystopia.

2. Utopia - Security - Dystopia - Coercion.

3. Curtailment of privacy - Dystopia - Utopia - Intentional community.

4. Utopia - Security - Homogeneity - Intentional community.

All of the following arguments are made in the passage EXCEPT that:

1. in More's time, there was plenty and security, so people did not need restraints that could appear unreasonable.

2. there have been thousands of communities where homogeneity and stability have been achieved through choice, rather than by force.

3. in early modern utopianism, the stability of utopian societies was seen to be achieved only with individuals surrendering their sense of self.

4. the tradition of utopian literature has often shown societies in which it would be nearly impossible for anyone to be sinful or criminal.